


Cain and Able

by AgeOfAlejandro



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-05
Updated: 2012-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-30 15:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/333156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgeOfAlejandro/pseuds/AgeOfAlejandro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moments through the eyes of the brothers Black, depicting jealousy, anger, and the tragedy of childhood betrayals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cain and Able

Regulus admired his brother, like all younger brothers and sisters admire their elder sibling. Sirius and his mother were his whole world, and a smile from either one of them made the sun shine brighter. But under that admiration, something gnawed at him. His parents, his aunts and uncles—they all laughed harder at Sirius's jokes than they did at Regulus's, praised him more loudly and more often than they did him, and Sirius got whatever he wanted. Regulus had to wait until Sirius was satisfied with his new broom, three kittens, and new wireless set before he could ask for a box of Turkish Delights or his own kitten.

The day after Regulus and his parents had seen Sirius off to Hogwarts, he heard a screeched _"Traitor!"_ echo through the house. He watched his mother stomp around the house, fuming that her eldest was going to become a blood traitor, no two ways about it. No one _ever_ came out of Gryffindor still valuing pure blood, or so she said to his father over Regulus's head that night.  
A year passed by, then two and Regulus himself went to Hogwarts, where he was sorted into Slytherin, where all _proper_ Blacks belonged.

A snide comment from Sirius brought it out. Something about being called a lying _snake_ by his own brother bit at Regulus's heart and he struck back. "I'd rather be a snake than a filthy _traitor_ ," he sneered at Sirius and his compatriots, "making friends with half bloods and muggleborns. Muggleborns are hardly better than _animals._ " For a moment, his eyes rested on the tall blonde boy that stood between his brother and the Potter boy.  
Sirius's face darkened and a rage that matched their mother's broke over his brother. Later, Regulus would wonder exactly what had set him off, but at the time he was far too busy dodging hexes and curses. And then, Sirius's aim struck true and Regulus blacked out as three successive curses slammed into him.

He awoke later, alone in a dark, deserted hallway. The venomous hissing of his mother's words echoed in his mind as he stood up. She had told him that Sirius was a traitor and had chosen his friends over his family. And Regulus had now seen it with his very own eyes, felt the magic of the curses sizzle through his skin. All in the name of Sirius's _friends,_ he thought bitterly as he trudged though the maze of corridors towards the dungeons.

* * *

  
Sirius watched as his brother received heaps of praise, that first Christmas that they both went home. _'Oh, look at you, little Regulus! What a proper Slytherin you are!'_ Sirius mockingly mimed as he walked through the garden behind Grimmauld on Christmas day, kicking rocks into the bushes that surrounded the frosted path.

That night at dinner, Regulus rubbed his status as a Slytherin in Sirius's face with a cruel, snide smile on his lips. The little bastard was _showered_ with attention from their parents, their aunts and cousins, for displaying pride in his house. Sirius was left with an empty space just below his heart as snub after snub was heaped upon him for being a Gryffindor.  
He hid the hurt, forcing it down, and a stunning realization came crashing down on his twelve year-old head; something so simple as his _school_ house meant he was irrevocably different than the rest of his family. There was a red and gold divide he could not cross and no one on the other side would deign to help him build a bridge to cross it.

He was left to wander the House of Black, alone.


End file.
